some late night Southington thoughts

It just occurred to me that the Southington girls' 55-42 win over East Lyme on Wednesday, which I attended, was the 100th in coach Jim DiNello's eight years with the team. The milestone was on my radar at the start of the season, but I lost track of it over the holidays. It was an impressive win, but I guess the milestone escaped coach DiNello's attention as well. There was no celebration after the game, as there sometimes is for such events. But here's to coach DiNello and the Knights, who might be playing the best I've seen them in the past four seasons.
A big part of that success is the maturation of senior center Allie Munson, who recently verbally committed to Cornell for next year. I have watched Munson on the volleyball and basketball courts for three years developing from a young player with potential but lacking in physical toughness, into the opposite. Now she is backing up that potential and the biggest difference appears to be confidence in the post on both ends of the court. Munson looks like a star now, and teams will learn to fear what she can do.
But off the court she is very amiable and intelligent (Cornell doesn't accept academic slouches), and everybody I talk to in Southington praises her for her generosity such as tutoring she does on the side. It's been a pleasure to see her growth, and you can check The Herald this week for a more complete story on her step to the next level.

brief injury update

I'm not sure what is legal to say, or what I am supposed to know, but word on Wethersfield point guard Heather Lyhne's injury is that it was, in fact, a dislocated knee but that there appeared to be complications other than that. My guess is that they are waiting for the damage to clear up a bit before they can properly do an MRI, but suffice it to say it is still very much up in the air whether she can return this season. But I would guess that the long-term prognosis is positive.
I'm not a doctor.

what a day

This Friday (I guess that's today) is so big that it should have a special name, similar to Super Tuesday. I don't have a good one for it, so I'll just tell you a bit about it.
Today pits what I believe are the four best girls basketball teams in the state against each other. Now neither of the matchups will be a state championship preview, as the teams are in different classes. But by my guess you'll see three of the four eventual class winners against each other.
First off, Bulkeley plays at New Britain. I feel like people are overlooking the Golden Hurricanes, considering they are the two-time Class LL defending champions, returned arguably the best backcourt in the state and have been pounding opponents thus far. I think people took their eyes off the team after an opening-game loss to Windsor. But keep two things in mind. They lost the same opener last year, and this time around they were missing two of their starters in that game (Cassandra Bell and Tyler Kimball).
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs are unbeaten and seem to be reloaded as they were when they were perfect and L champs two years ago. They might be the best team in the state (but so might all these teams).
Check out Ken Lipshez's preview of the game in today's paper. He spoke to Manchester coach John Reiser, who has already lost to both teams remarkably by the same differential, 17 points. But be sure to get to the game if you can.
OR...
If that one doesn't interest you, how about this one. Career Magnet at Mercy. Right now Career is ranked number one in most state polls, and while I'm skeptical, I can't argue with the numbers. They pounded a good Guilford team 91-29 on the road, and did the same to Hamden 90-35 at home. Wow.
Meanwhile, Mercy may have the most dominant player in the state in Rachel Roberts and Bianca Simmons isn't bad either.
If you believe my opinion, which you can take with a grain of salt, I am skeptical of Career after watching them in the Class M playoffs against Plainville last year. They were very good. But they were not close to the level of the top LL teams. Now, it's possible that they have returned most of their lineup and improved dramatically, but I'll believe it when I see it. I am guessing Mercy wins this.
Bulkeley-New Britain is beyond my capacity to guess. I just wish I could be there. But, alas...

I will be in Wethersfield to get my first look of the season at the boys basketball team against Rockville. The Eagles are playing well at 4-1, and beat what I thought was a solid Newington team before destroying coach Mike Verderame's former team, Platt. So, I am understandably curious to see this team.
Ken will be at Chick Shea Gymnasium.

new year's thoughts

First off, Happy New Year to everybody out there! Matt Straub and I were having a conversation several weeks ago and we got to talking about which holidays were most important to us. It has often occurred to me that New Year's, since I was really old enough to stay up and celebrate, has always been one of my favorite and the most special holidays of the year. That seems interesting, since it really doesn't commemorate anything specific. It doesn't honor anything. It doesn't have any religious spiritual significance. But I do find New Year's spiritual. Let me try to explain.
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day appeal to the ever-present desire in each of us to begin anew. Let's face it. We all love a fresh start, particularly when things don't go so well. And who among us can often say at the end of a year that everything has gone well in the past 365 days.
But New Year's is also a time to remember the things that did go well. So in that respect, it serves the best of both purposes: looking back and cherishing special moments, and being able to look forward to better times to come.
While Christmas and Thanksgiving are always holidays I try to spend with my direct family first and foremost, New Year's is the opposite. On the last day of the year I always try to spend it with my best friends, who in many ways are just as much my family as that formed by blood. Close out the year with those who have made it special, and start the next year with the people you most want to share it with. But most importantly celebrate the new beginnings.

I guess I'll just share with you some of my favorite events and storylines from this year. As a reporter and writer, I naturally get attached to certain things that I get to cover each year. I can still remember my first year on the job and how awesome it was to cover the Farmington Little League team on its run to the Eastern Regional. But, of course, every year brings different things.
So here's what 2007 brought.
I loved watching the exciting play of the New Britain girls basketball team. Back-to-back titles in one of the most competitive classes in CT high school sports is a huge accomplishment. Speed, defense, outside shooting, intensity, and teamwork are the things I think when I watch this team, and sometimes you ask if they could have knocked off some weaker college teams.
I had a blast covering all the great local basketball players, many of whom graduated in June. Tim Abromaitis, Jeff Veneziano, Yasmin Ithier-Vicenty, Amanda Pierlioni, Ashley Borofsky, Doran Mitchell and the list goes on and on for last year's senior class. This year there's still a lot of talent there. I followed these kids' exploits on the court closely, and got to see them from early on in their high school careers. I still love bumping into many of them at games now, home on break.
I got to follow the Southington gymnastics team on a third straight New England title run. It was a sendoff for their brilliant senior class of Kristy Dougan, Jess Gianatti, Yvette Mirando and Shannon Strachel. I'm curious to see how the Knights reload this year (as I hear some pretty exciting rumors coming out of Southington in the preseason).
And thought I don't cover them every day, I got completely caught up in the season for the CCSU Blue Devils. No team better exemplified what hard work and toughness can get you. And they all did it with a smile and friendly hello after the game.
But of course, Spring is my favorite season, and I have a ton of special moments there. I got to see Farmington knock off Berlin in girls golf after year's of conference titles. Both coaches and teams were gracious.
I saw Sarah Sideranko and Kirsten LaPointe continue to improve and I can only imagine how good they'll be in two more years on the links.
The Newington baseball run was awesome. They were overlooked most of the season by the press in other parts of the state (shoreline bias), but we suspected how good they might be. Their 18-inning victory in the state quarterfinals over Fitch is probably the most exciting and unpredictable event I'll ever cover.
It's sad to see so many of them graduate at once, but I'm sure I'll see them on the other side of the fence this Spring, as perhaps no other program I cover has more alumni return to games.
In the most anticipated event of the year I watched the Plainville Blue Devils hand Fitch pitcher Matt Harvey his first career loss. The kid was good, and hopefully for him he'll move his way up the professional ranks in the coming years. But Plainville's Eric Luke got the job done, and Jamie Raymond slapped the ball to death at the plate. (Speaking of teams that should be good in 2008, coach Freimuth has a dynamite group coming back).
I enjoyed watching Plainville softball rise to the top of the NWC and nearly pull off what most would have considered a big upset in the postseason.
In the summer, I was a little late getting on the path of the Berlin NewAlliance team, but I did watch them roll through the playoffs for a third straight title and an undefeated season. And coach Baccaro is great to work with, a truly classy guy who instills that in his players.
The fall brought a very successful football season for local teams, and a near miss for Berlin. I won't soon forget that championship game.
But perhaps I was most excited to see Wethersfield competitive for the first time in a while. The Eagles seem to be continuing that into the basketball season as well.
The Wethersfield soccer team was a thrill ride. I've never had more fun watching a team play in a sport that I admittedly am not a big fan of. But they made me a fan of them, both on and off the field.
Winter is well under way with potential, meaning 2008 should be another memorable year. Predictions? I'm not that foolish this far in advance. But I'll be there.
Happy New Year to all of you ... and a clean slate for '08.